Media

Steven Heller|Essays

Decorative Books: The End of Print

65 Ways to Decorate with Books in Your Home, 1956, illustrator unknownWhen ink on paper finally goes the way of the Dodo (or the eight track), as certain dodos have predicted, heaps of printed papers will remain on earth. So the question …

Alice Twemlow|Essays

Design Criticism's Winding Road

Cover of 1955 Buick catalog.On the whole, Deborah Allen had little patience for the "expensive toys" she reviewed as car critic for Industrial Design magazine in the 1950's. She lived in New York, used public transport, and didn't even …

Steven Heller|Essays

Confessions of a Book Catalog Reader

Thames & Hudson catalog cover, Fall 2007.I read publishers' seasonal catalogs the way some people go to the movies, in part to watch the trailers for coming attractions. You get the gist — if not the best parts — but don't …

Liz Brown|Essays

Phil Spector vs. The Wall of Sound

Until 1966, producer Phil Spector was an unstoppable machine, churning out "symphonies for little kids." Then came "River Deep, Mountain High," where the combination of Tina Turner’s raw, unbridled passion and Spector’s …

Adrian Shaughnessy|Essays

Barnbrook Bible: A Graphic Autobiography

Barnbrook Bible, cover, 2007.Jonathan Barnbrook's new book, Barnbrook Bible, ranks amongst the most ambitious personal projects undertaken by any graphic designer. It is a 330-page monograph bursting with dazzling refinement. Throughout …

Jessica Helfand|Essays

Harry Potter and The Enchanted Letterforms

Warner Brothers Pictures, 2007.Followers of the Harry Potter films have long been groomed to anticipate a certain amount of change, particularly where the director is concerned. (After Chris Columbus, Alfonso Cuarón and Mike Newell, …

Richard Turley|Essays

Off the Grid

Photo: Martin Godwin/GuardianSo there we were. Standing in a vast field at the Worthy Farm, the home of the Glastonbury Festival, armed with a laptop, rain pouring down, sodden jeans, welly boots welded to our feet, the ground turning into …

William Drenttel|Slideshows

One Man's Literary Compass

When I look at my bookshelves, I see my life. Whole glimpses of previous interests are represented, from my collection of Latin American fiction to the many reminders of the years I spent living in Italy (the novels of Primo Levi and Italo …

Debbie Millman|Audio

Shepard Fairey

Designer and illustrator Shepard Fairey is the author of Supply and Demand: The Art of Shepard Fairey and Shepard Fairey: Post No Bills.

Debbie Millman|Audio

Bad Boys of Design IV

Designers Marc Alt, Mike Essl, Alberto Rigau and others.

Tom Vanderbilt|Essays

On the Squareness of Milk Containers

99 Cent, Andreas Gursky, 1999Do you know, or have you ever wanted to know, why milk containers are square and soft drink containers are round?

Debbie Millman|Audio

Josh Liberson + Ethan Trask

Josh Liberson and Ethan Trask are designers and the founders of the firm Helicopter.